Objective To study the activity of ten kinds of antipyretic-antidotal traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),including radix tinosporae.herb of blin conyza and turmeric,against extensively drug-resistant Acineto-bacter baumannii(XDR-AB)infection,screen out the extracts of antipyretic-antidotal TCM which have in vivo anti-infection activity,provide a research basis for the discovery of novel antimicrobials against XD-RAB infection.Methods Ten antipyretic-antidotal TCM were extracted with water,50％ethanol and 95％ethanol respectively,and TCM extracts with different concentrations were prepared,which were co-incubated with the model of XDR-AB-infected Caenorhabditis elegans previously optimized by the research group.The in vivo activity of antipyretic-antidotal TCM against XDR-AB infection was judged through the survival rate of Caenorhabditis elegans.Results With the increase of concentration of turmeric and cortex pseudolaricis extracts,the survival rate of XDR-AB-infec-ted nematodes continued to improve.The water extract,50％ethanol extract,and 95％ethanol extract of turmeric at a concentration of 1 000 μg/mL could increase the survival rates of XDR-AB-infected Caenorhabditis elegans to 54.2％(compared to the negative control group,P＜0.001),18.8％,and 13.3％,respectively.The water ex-tract,50％ethanol extract,and 95％ethanol extract of cortex pseudolaricis at a concentration of 1 000 μg/mL could increase the survival rates of XDR-AB-infected Caenorhabditis elegans to 47.4％(compared to the negative control group,P＜0.001),23.8％,and 15.8％,respectively.Conclusion The water extracts of turmeric and cortex pseudolaricis have good activity against XDR-AB infection,and their main chemical components can be tested for in vitro antimicrobial efficacy to discover novel antimicrobial agents against XDR-AB infection.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment strategies of infective endocarditis caused by Bartonella vinsonii subsp.berkhoffii(Bvb).Methods Clinical diagnosis and treatment of a 25-year-old male patient with infective endocarditis caused by Bvb in China was reported,combined with literatures about three similar cases reported abroad were summarized and analyzed.Results All 4 patients were young and middle-aged males with a history of close contact with canines in the past one year.The main symptoms were chest pain,fa-tigue,and dyspnea,accompanied by cerebrovascular accidents and severe anemia,as well as the formation of heart valve vegetations and valve function impairment.Multiple blood cultures were negative,2 and 3 cases were con-firmed to be infected with Bvb through metagenomic next-generation sequencing(mNGS)of pathogenic microorga-nisms and polymerase chain reaction respectively.All patients underwent surgical treatment due to heart failure,and all survived after surgery and targeted anti-infective treatment.Conclusion This case report is the first case of Bvb infective endocarditis in China.Patient's diagnosis is confirmed by serum indirect immunofluorescence assay and mNGS,combination of surgery and anti-infective treatment has achieved ideal effect.

Objective To observe the improvement effect and mechanism of salvianolic acid B on renal fibrosis mice.Methods Thirty-six BALB/c mice were randomly divided into sham operation group,model group,salvianolic acid B low-,medium-and high-dose groups and VX765(caspase-1 inhibitor)group,with 6 mice in each group.Salvianolic acid B low-,medium-and high-dose groups were intragastrically administered with corresponding doses of 50,100,200 mg-kg-1-d-1 salvianolic acid B normal saline suspension,respectively,VX765 group was intragastrically administered with 50 mg·kg-1·d-1 VX765 normal saline suspension,and the sham operation group and the model group were intragastrically administered with the same volume of normal saline,once a day.After seven days,except for the sham operation group,the mice in other groups were treated with unilateral renal ischemia-reperfusion injury combined with contralateral nephrectomy to establish an acute kidney injury-induced renal fibrosis model.After modeling,each group continued to be administered with the corresponding volume of drugs for 21 days.After the administration,the pathological changes of renal tissue were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and Masson staining.The serum creatinine(SCr)was detected by sarcosine oxidase method.The urea nitrogen(BUN)was detected by urease method.The level of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin(NGAL)was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The expression of fibrosis-related proteins fibrosis-related proteins α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA),vimentin and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)and pyroptosis-related proteins cleaved cysteine aspartate proteolytic enzyme 1(cl-caspase-1),pro-caspase-1(pro-caspase-1),NOD-like receptor hot protein domain-related protein 3(NLRP3),cleaved interleukin-1β(cl-IL-1β),interleukin-1β(IL-1β),GSDMD-N,GSDMD in renal tissue was detected by Western Blot.Results Compared with the sham operation group,the serum levels of SCr,BUN and NGAL in the model group were increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).HE and Masson staining showed inflammatory cell infiltration and a large amount of collagen deposition in the renal interstitium,and the expression levels of fibrosis-related proteins α-SMA,vimentin and TGF-β were increased(P＜0.01).The expression levels of pyroptosis-related proteins cl-caspase-1/pro-caspase-1,NLRP3,cl-IL-1β/IL-1β,GSDMD-N/GSDMD were also increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Compared with the model group,the levels of serum SCr,BUN and NGAL in the high-dose salvianolic acid B group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),the infiltration of renal interstitial inflammatory cells and collagen deposition were reduced,and the expression levels of fibrosis proteins α-SMA,vimentin,TGF-β and pyroptosis-related proteins cl-caspase-1/pro-caspase-1,NLRP3,cl-IL-1β/IL-1β,GSDMD-N/GSDMD were decreased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in the above indexes between the high-dose salvianolic acid B group and the VX765 group(P＞0.05).Conclusion Salvianolic acid B may alleviate renal fibrosis in mice by inhibiting pyroptosis mediated by NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway.

The purpose of this study is to construct a muscle-specific synthetic promoter library, screen out muscle-specific promoters with high activity, analyze the relationship between element composition and activity of highly active promoters, and provide a theoretical basis for artificial synthesis of promoters. In this study, 19 promoter fragments derived from muscle-specific elements, conserved elements, and viral regulatory sequences were selected and randomLy connected to construct a muscle-specific synthetic promoter library. The luciferase plasmids pCMV-Luc and pSPs-Luc were constructed and transfected into the myoblast cell line C2C12. The activities of the synthesized promoters were evaluated by the luciferase activity assay. Two non-muscle-derived cell lines HeLa and 3T3 were used to verify the muscle specificity of the highly active promoters. The sequences of promoters with high activity, good muscle specificity, and correct sequences were analyzed to explore the relationship between the element composition and activity of promoters. We successfully constructed a muscle-specific promoter library and screened out 321 effective synthetic promoter plasmids. Among them, the activity of SP-301 promoter was 5.63 times that of CMV. The 15 promoters with high activity were muscle-specific. In the promoters with high activity and correct sequences, there was a relationship between their element composition and activity. Muscle-specific elements accounted for a high proportion in the promoters, while they had weak correlations with the promoter activity, being tissue-specific determinants. Viral elements accounted for no less than 20% in highly active promoters, which may be the key elements for the promoter activity. The content of conserved elements was proportional to the promoter activity. This study lays a theoretical foundation for the synthesis of tissue-specific efficient promoters and provides a new idea for the construction and application of in-situ gene delivery systems.
Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Humans ; Animals ; Mice ; Gene Library ; Cell Line ; Transfection ; HeLa Cells ; Luciferases/metabolism* ; Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism* ; Plasmids/genetics* ; Myoblasts/cytology*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Jianpi Jieyu Decoction (JJD) for treating patients with mild-to-moderate depression of Xin (Heart)-Pi (Spleen) deficiency (XPD) syndrome. METHODS: In this multi-center, randomized, controlled study, 140 patients with mild-to-moderate depression of XPD syndrome were included from Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Botou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2017 to December 2019. They were randomly divided into JJD group and paroxetine group by using a random number table, with 70 cases in each group. The patients in the JJD group were given JJD one dose per day (twice daily at morning and evening, 100 mL each time), and the patients in the paroxetine group were given paroxetine (10 mg/d in week 1; 20 mg/d in weeks 2-6), both orally administration for a total of 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the change of 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) score at week 6 from baseline. The secondary outcomes included the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score, Traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Scale (TCMSS), and Clinlcal Global Impression (CGI) scores at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th weekends of treatment, HAMD-17 response (defined as a reduction in score of >50%) and HAMD-17 remission (defined as a score of ⩽7) at the end of the 6th week of treatment. Adverse events (AEs) were also recorded. RESULTS: From baseline to week 6, the HAMD-17 scores decreased 10.2 ± 4.0 and 9.1 ± 4.9 points in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.689). The HAMD-17 response occurred in 60% of patients in the JJD group and in 50% of those in the paroxetine group (P=0.292); HAMD-17 remission occurred in 45.7% and 30% of patients, respectively (P=0.128). The differences of CGI scores at the 6th week were not statistically significant (P>0.05). There were significant differences in HAMD-17 scores between the two groups at 2nd and 4th week (P=0.001 and P=0.014). The HAMA scores declined 8.1 ± 3.0 and 6.9 ± 4.3 points from baseline to week 6 in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.905 between groups). At 4th week of treatment, there was a significant difference in HAMA between the two groups (P=0.037). TCMSS decreased 11.4 ± 5.1, and 10.1 ± 6.8 points in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.080 between groups). At the 6th week, the incidence of AEs in the JJD group was significantly lower than that in the paroxetine group (7.14% vs. 22.86%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION Compared with paroxetine, JJD was associated with a significantly lower incidence of AEs in patients with mild-to-moderate depression of XPD syndrome, with no difference in efficacy at 6 weeks. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR2000040922).
Humans ; Paroxetine/adverse effects* ; Spleen ; Anxiety ; Syndrome ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Treatment Outcome ; Double-Blind Method

OBJECTIVE: To observe the short-term efficacy, long-term efficacy and safety of acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). METHODS: Forty-two patients with CP/CPPS were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (21 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a sham acupuncture group (21 cases). The patients in the acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture at bilateral Zhongliao (BL 33), Huiyang (BL 35), Shenshu (BL 23) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6); the needling depth of Zhongliao (BL 33) and Huiyang (BL 35) was 60 to 80 mm, while Shenshu (BL 23) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) was directly punctured of 30 mm. The patients in the sham acupuncture group were treated with acupuncture at non-acupoints, including points 2 cm next to Shenshu (BL 23), Zhongliao (BL 33) and Huiyang (BL 35), and the midpoint of the connecting line between the spleen meridian and the kidney meridian. All the non-acupoints were treated with directly puncture of 2 to 3 mm. The needles were left for 30 min in both groups, once every other day in the first four weeks, three times a week, and twice a week in the next four weeks, totally 20 treatments. Before treatment, after treatment and in follow-up of 24 weeks after treatment completion, the National Institutes of Health-chronic prostatitis symptom index (NIH-CPSI) score and urinary flow rate were observed in both groups; the clinical efficacy and safety were evaluated. RESULTS: Compared with those before treatment, the pain and discomfort scores, urination symptoms scores, quality of life scores and total scores of NIH-CPSI in both groups were reduced after treatment in the two groups (P<0.01), while each item score and total score of NIH-CPSI in the acupuncture group were reduced in follow-up (P<0.01, P<0.05). After treatment and in follow-up, each item score and total score of NIH-CPSI in the acupuncture group were lower than those in the sham acupuncture group (P<0.05, P<0.01). After treatment, the maximum and average urinary flow rates in the acupuncture group were higher than those before treatment (P<0.05), and the average urinary flow rate in the acupuncture group was higher than that in the sham acupuncture group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 75.0% (15/20) in the acupuncture group, which was higher than 42.9% (9/21) in the sham acupuncture group (P<0.05). No significant adverse reactions were observed in the two groups, and there was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture could effectively alleviate the clinical symptoms, improve quality of life, and has a sustained, safe and reliable therapeutic effect in patients with CP/CPPS.
United States ; Male ; Humans ; Prostatitis/therapy* ; Quality of Life ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Punctures ; Meridians

Objective: To investigate the functional changes of key gut microbiota (GM) that produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients and to explore their potential role in the pathogenesis of AF. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Patients with AF admitted to Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University were enrolled from March 2016 to December 2018. Subjects with matched genetic backgrounds undergoing physical examination during the same period were selected as controls. Clinical baseline data and fecal samples were collected. Bacterial DNA was extracted and metagenomic sequencing was performed by using Illumina Novaseq. Based on metagenomic data, the relative abundances of KEGG Orthology (KO), enzymatic genes and species that harbored enzymatic genes were acquired. The key features were selected via the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis. The role of GM-derived LPS biosynthetic feature in the development of AF was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and logistic regression analysis. Results: Fifty nonvalvular AF patients (mean age: 66.0 (57.0, 71.3), 32 males(64%)) were enrolled as AF group. Fifty individuals (mean age 55.0 (50.5, 57.5), 41 males(82%)) were recruited as controls. Compared with the controls, AF patients showed a marked difference in the GM genes underlying LPS-biosynthesis, including 20 potential LPS-synthesis KO, 7 LPS-biosynthesis enzymatic genes and 89 species that were assigned as taxa harbored nine LPS-enzymatic genes. LASSO regression analysis showed that 5 KO, 3 enzymatic genes and 9 species could be selected to construct the KO, enzyme and species scoring system. Genes enriched in AF group included 2 KO (K02851 and K00972), 3 enzymatic genes (LpxH, LpxC and LpxK) and 7 species (Intestinibacter bartlettii、Ruminococcus sp. JC304、Coprococcus catus、uncultured Eubacterium sp.、Eubacterium sp. CAG:251、Anaerostipes hadrus、Dorea longicatena). ROC curve analysis revealed the predictive capacity of differential GM-derived LPS signatures to distinguish AF patients in terms of above KO, enzymatic and species scores: area under curve (AUC)=0.957, 95%CI: 0.918-0.995, AUC=0.940, 95%CI 0.889-0.991, AUC=0.972, 95%CI 0.948-0.997. PLS-SEM showed that changes in lipopolysaccharide-producing bacteria could be involved in the pathogenesis of AF. The key KO mediated 35.17% of the total effect of key bacteria on AF. After incorporating the clinical factors of AF, the KO score was positively associated with the significantly increased risk of AF (OR<0.001, 95%CI:<0.001-0.021, P<0.001). Conclusion: Microbes involved in LPS synthesis are enriched in the gut of AF patients, accompanied with up-regulated LPS synthesis function by encoding the LPS-enzymatic biosynthesis gene.
Aged ; Atrial Fibrillation/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies

Objective To study the physical characteristics of body of Xibe adults in Liaoning province and to accumulate data for the studyof physical anthropology. Methods The investigation method and judging standard were refered to correlative regulations in " Anthropometric Method ". The survey included 33 measurement items, 5 indicators and 6 types, 330 Xibe adult people (male 174, female 156) were recruited. Results According to the classification of body part index, the rates of long trunk, wide chest, wide shoulder and wide pelvis were the highest in all the adults of Xibe nationality in Liaoning province, the rates of middle and sub-long legs were the highest in the males, and the rates of super short legs were the highest in the females. According to the stature type, the rates of high type were the highest in males and females. Conclusion The body physical characteristics of male adults of Xibe nationality in Liaoning are the most similar to those of male adults of Xibe nationality in Xinjiang, and the body physical characteristics of female adults of Xibe nationality in Liaoning were between those of female adults of ethnic minorities in Northwest China and Northeast China.

Gut microbiome sequencing studies have great potential to translate microbial analysis outcomes into human health research. Sequencing strategies of 16S amplicon and whole-metagenome shotgun (WMS) are two main methods in microbiome research with respective advantages. However, how sample heterogeneity, sequencers and library preparation protocols affect the sequencing reproducibility of gut microbiome needs further investigation. This study aims to provide a reference for the selection of sequencing technologies by comparing differences in microbial composition from different sampling sites. The results of three widely adopted sequencers showed that the technical repetition correlation (r= 0. 94) was high in WMS method, while the biological repetition correlation (r = 0. 69) was low. Bray-Curtis distance identified that dissimilarity from biological replicates was larger than that of technical replicates (P<0. 001). In addition, dissimilarity and specific taxonomic profiles were observed between 16S and WMS datasets. Our results imply that homogenization is a necessary step before sample DNA extraction. The sequencers contributed less to taxonomic variation than the library preparation protocols. We developed an empirical Bayes approach that " borrowed information" in calculations and analyzed batch effect parameters using standardized data and prior distributions of (non-) parameters, which may improve population comparability between 16S and WMS and provide a basis for further application to fusion analysis of published 16S and microbial datasets.

Objective To evaluate the influence of factors such as the selection of equipment, focal length and the selection of reconstruction quality in the reconstruction software on the reconstruction results of single camera photogrammetry and provide reference for the forensic application of single camera photogrammetry. Methods The 19 skulls were measured by traditional measurement method and single camera photogrammetry. The differences between the two measurement methods and within the group with same equipment but different focal length were analyzed. One skull and one corpse were selected as the research objects. According to the reconstruction quality selection conditions in the photogrammetric software, the experimental group was divided into five grades. The model reconstructed by optical scanner was defined as reference model, while the model reconstructed by single camera photogrammetry was defined as test model. The test model was aligned with the reference model, 3D deviation analysis was carried out and the mean error and root mean square （RMS） values were calculated. Results The differences between EOS 7D zoom group and traditional measurement, and within the group with same equipment had statistical significance （P<0.05）. The mean error value and minimum RMS value of the skull reconstructed by single camera photogrammetry and the three-dimensional model of the corpse existed in the medium quality group, and the trend was basically the same. Conclusion The equipment and focal length has no obvious influence on the results of single camera photogrammetry. Lower reconstruction quality can easily cause distortion, while higher reconstruction quality can easily generate noise, so medium quality is preferred.
Forensic Medicine ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Photogrammetry ; Skull/diagnostic imaging* ; Software